Broadband speed tests can determine how fast your internet connection is. DSL speed is affected by distance from the nearest DSLAM, while cable customers can be affected by local load. Tests involve downloading data and logging transfer time, with results affected by the distance between the host and the computer requesting the test. To minimize latency, some sites ask for physical location or allow users to select a nearby host. Running multiple tests and averaging results is recommended.
Since speed is the name of the game in online access, many people would like to know if they are getting their money from their Internet Service Provider (ISP). A broadband speed test is just the ticket to seeing how fast you’re hurtling down the information superhighway.
High-speed access is usually purchased in a plan that guarantees a speed defined by a high and low boundary. Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) speed is affected by how far your physical address is from the nearest Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (DSLAM), so purchasing a plan with a maximum limit of 1500 kilobits per second (Kbps) does not guarantee that your connection will be so fast. You may get an average of 1250Kbps, 1000kbps or even less.
Cable customers are not affected by location, but can be affected by local load or the number of area residents surfing at the same time. If the bandwidth allocated for the area is inadequate, high speeds typically deteriorate when too many neighbors go online at the same time.
Broadband speed tests are simple in nature. The website hosting the test causes your computer to download a set amount of data, or multiple set amounts, while logging the time taken by the transfers. Typically the site also tests loading speeds. The website then reports the amount of data transferred per second to give you an idea of the speed of the connection, both upstream and downstream.
There are a couple of factors to take into consideration when performing a broadband speed test. When you click to start testing, your browser sends a request to the host address for test data. This request travels through routers on the Internet, each of which forwards the request to the host’s address, eventually reaching the test site. The site then sends the data to your computer’s address in several separate packets which are routed back across the internet to your computer where the packets are recombined upon arrival.
How does this affect a broadband speed test? The further away the host is from the computer requesting the test, the more likely it is that the number of routers between the two points will increase, potentially adding delayed or lost packets and latency. To take an extreme example, suppose “Jack” is in the same city as the host computer, while “Sandy” is in a different country. Even though both browsers enjoy identical speeds, Sandy’s broadband speed test will again seem slower than Jack’s, simply because the data had to travel through multiple routers to reach Sandy’s computer.
To minimize this latency variable, some sites ask for your physical location before running the broadband speed test, or they may allow you to click on a map for a nearby host. The data is then sent from the closest available host. The site may also ask what type of Internet connection you have in order to rank your results in relation to others who have the same type of connection.
There can be unavoidable delays between your computer and the host computer, so it’s a good idea to run several tests and average the results.
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